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🌏 Region(s): Kyushu (Kagoshima: Yakushima)

みる【水】

miru

Pronunciation: /miɾu/ [miɾu]

Definition

Noun

  1. Water; cold water; fresh water

Etymology

Cognate with Akita むぃづぃ mïdzï; Nagasaki (Gotou) and Kagoshima (Minamikyushu) みん min; Kagoshima みっ miq; Kagoshima (Yakushima) みる miru and みーる miiru; Amami (Setouchi) めィでぃ mïdi; Okinoerabu, Yoron and Okinawan みじ miji; Yonaguni みん min; and standard Japanese みず【水】 mizu "water", historically written みづ【水】 midu.

Historical Ryukyuan attestations

  • おもろさうし Omoro Saushi (1531-1623) records "みつ".
  • Konkoukenshuu (混効験集, 1711), "Words of the Royal Palace", records みづ midu (#2 p. 18).
  • A Voyage of Discovery to the North Pacific Ocean, 1795-1798 (1804), by William Robert Broughton, records "Mizee, Water".
  • Vocabulary of the language spoken at the Great Loo-Choo island in the Japan Sea (1818), by Herbert John Clifford, records "Water. Meézee, or Meésee".
  • Voyage of His Majesty's Ship Alceste: Along the Coast of Corea, to the Island of Lewchew, with an Account of Her Subsequent Shipwreck (1818), by John M'Leod, records "Water. Midzee".
  • Essay in Aid of a Grammmar and Dictionary of the Luchuan Language (1895), by Basil Hall Chamberlain, records "Mizi, water. (Jap. mizu.)".

Reconstructions:

  • Most sources reconstruct *medu for proto-Ryukyuan, *midu for proto-Japanese and *medu for proto-Japonic.

Spelling

OrthographyForm
Kanji
Kanaみる
Romanizationmiru
Pronunciation (IPA)/miɾu/ [miɾu]

意味:みず【水】

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Cite this entry: Read, Zachary. (2025, January 23). みる【水】 : miru | define meaning. JLect: Japonic Languages and Dialects Database. Retrieved 2025, January 24, from https://www.jlect.com/entry/5551/miru/.